Weekend Cooking: Pinterest Testing Food For A Hurricane

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As many of you know, I live in New York City. We had been hearing all last week about Hurricane Sandy heading this way, and although we dodged a bullet with Hurricane Irene, we decided it's better to be safe than sorry.

My husband runs a group of nursing homes, so I knew that if the hurricane was bad, he'd be working many hours and so I geared up to prepare some hearty meals. We shopped at Costco and Target for supplies, and Agata & Valentina, a neighborhood Italian store, for produce and meats.

I also thought it would be a good opportunity to use my Pinterest boards to try out some new recipes. Below are some of the highlights. (Click on the photo to take you to the recipes.)

I baked Cream Cheese Cookies, which was a big hit on our annual August vacation back home in Auburn. They are easy and very tasty. This came from the website justapinch.

Source: justapinch.com via Diane on Pinterest

I made more than a few casseroles, and these were some of the winners. This Pizza Casserole does taste like pizza, but I would leave the ham out next time, and make sure to load up on the pepperoni on top. I did not follow the directions and cover the top entirely with pepperoni, and when the cheese melted and spread, there was not enough pepperoni. I found this on cullyskitchen.

Source: cullyskitchen.com via Diane on Pinterest

The best casserole was Loaded Baked Potato Buffalo Chicken Casserole, which I pinned and my sister-in-law tried first for her family of guys. They loved it, and we did too. It was a little too spicy, so next time I would cut down on the paprika, black pepper and hot sauce, but it was so good I was still picking at it two days later. My other two sisters-in-law are making this dish too. This came from cooklisacook.

Source: cooklisacook.blogspot.ca via Diane on Pinterest

The favorite recipe of all was for Crack Potatoes, which was a simple dish mixing shredded potatoes (I used a bag of Simply Potatoes, found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store) shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon bits (I cook bacon and dice it) and ranch dip mix and baking. We had it with a spiral ham and it was amazing, a real comfort food.

Source: justaddasliceoflove.blogspot.com via Diane on Pinterest

We were lucky where we live, although it was scary when the hurricane was racing through the city, we kept our power and had no flooding in our area. My husband's nursing homes had no issues thanks to the dedicated staff, many of whom stayed over for several days to care for the residents and cover for those who couldn't make it in. (They did end up taking in residents from other nursing homes who lost power.)

I hope you all made it safely through the hurricane and that those affected by Sandy get the help they need to rebuild their homes and lives.